Youth

Minamino Shuuichi was a 14-year-old student who lived with his mother, stepfather, and little brother ( at the end of the series ) . He went to an exclusive school which is very well known in Japan. Shuuichi was very intelligent which is why he's often top 1 in his school. He's also very talented, very polite , well-mannered, and very attractive. Most girls in his school are crazy about him and some school clubs are begging him to join their club so that a lot of girls/students would join that particular club. But despite of his "good moral character", he also can be very lethal and can kill instantly without hesitating. That is, if someone pushed him to the edge. That is also the reason why Hiei chose him be his partner, due to the fact that he was the only being he had ever fought and not killed instantly. From then on out, they would form a bond that they would keep for the rest of their lives, eventually sharing histories with each other and thus strengthening their bond even more.

Backstory

Shiori , Shuuichi's human mother, taught him the virtues of life. She also saved Shuuichi's life from falling and hitting his head when he was still young, and that moment was remembered by Shuuichi until now. Kurama / Shuuichi, who was once a youkai with a cold heart, became a warm-hearted person who cares for others, especially for his mother who saved his life. A few years later, Shiori became very ill and cannot be treated. Shuuichi became desperate to find a cure and save his mother. And because of that, he joined a group of thieves from Makai and stole the mirror of rei kai which is one of the 3 most important artifacts. The mirror can grant any wish of its holder but it takes its holder's life in return. When Yusuke was looking for him to retrieve the mirror, Yusuke saw him in the midst of a crowd and Kurama told him through telepathy to go to the hospital after three days. And so, three days had past and in the hospital, Yusuke met Shiori, Shuuichi's ill mother. There he explained his purpose for the mirror and he will return it afterwards. At that time, they were informed that Shiori's condition was already critical. There was no other way except the mirror's power. Just as Shuuichi was about to give up his life for his mother by using the mirror, Yusuke placed his hand to the mirror and offered his life in exchange for Shuuichi's because he couldn't bear to see another mother ( he once saw his own mother grieving for his death in the earlier part of the series ) suffer by losing her son. Shuuichi's wish came true without the mirror taking any life in return because of the good intention of Shuuichi for his mother and also with the help of Yusuke. Shuichi also saved Yusuke from Hiei's attack by striking him at his jagan. He did it to pay off Yusuke for what he had done for Shiori. As punishment for stealing the mirror, he was appointed as a rei kai tantei and he will help Yusuke in his missions.

Katajima Maya was Shuichi's classmate in school and she also has some psychic ability. She can see demons and other makai beings.She actually saw Shuichi talking to demons in their school, but Shuichi always denies it. Maya fell in love with Shuichi and she told him about it. Shuichi could not tell her that he does not feel the same way about her. Maya was kidnapped that same day by a powerful youkai who eats humans. Shuichi ( with Hiei ) rescued her and defeated that youkai. After that , he erased her memory for the best. She also became Shuichi's girlfriend but only for a short time.

Shuuichi is a very skilled fighter with a rose whip as his weapon. His rose whip was introduced during his match with Genbu, one of the holy beasts. This whip's thorns can cut almost anything such as metal, rocks, etc. Kurama can strike his opponent several times in a split second using the whip, leaving his opponent sliced into pieces. He can also turn other plants into hideous monsters that are very deadly and uses them against his enemies.

Trials With Yusuke

His story in the series of Yuyu Hakusho didn't truly start, however, until he had met Yusuke Urameshi, the newest Spirit Detective, one day in a forest outside of a small area in Japan. It was somehow that he knew of the team of demon thieves. Kurama had become a thief with his friend Hiei and another, unimportant, power hungry demon named Goki, who had only been in it for the power. Well, so had Hiei, but Kurama knew his story, and didn't bother him with never ending speeches about morals. Then again he never did, so he went on when Goki decided to try and kill the Spirit Detective, Yusuke Urameshi. Hiei managed to stop him, but in the end, after he left, Goki attacked him anyways, and, after a week or so of seeming inactivity, Yusuke killed him in a most embarrassing way. After this happened, he would eventually come on to terms with Yusuke, and they would meet up and he would tell him of his ultimate goal in stealing the Mirror of Souls : To heal his mother of sickness that she had gotten. Normally, demons were evil, dark creatures that blood lusted, and, seeing such a being with a kind hearted nature, his thoughts on demons were clouded for a while. So, after seeing that Kurama was only in this to help out his mother he became friendly with him, only it would seem that Kurama would have to die in the process. Kurama went on to attempt to sacrifice his life, but was stopped and Yusuke interrupted, sacrificing some of his life instead. This made Kurama furious, but only for an instance, until he realized that Yusuke had only had it in his best interest not to do something that would make him get hurt, where they then came to a mutual agreement not to hurt each other.

The Four Saint Beasts

The next time that Yusuke and Kurama would cross paths would be in his third mission from the Spirit World as Detective, he would go to defeat the Four Beasts that were making all of the world sick and give a vile infection to humans that would eventually just turn them into demons where they would attempt to murder and slaughter everyone around them that wasn't inflicted with the demonic plague. Kurama and Hiei were actually bargained with a pardon for their crimes if they were to assist Yusuke Urameshi in this mission, as they knew that he couldn't do it as he was with his strength, even with his partner Kuwabara, so, the two demons gladly accepted the deal and managed to get to Yusuke and his friend in the nick of time, killing some lesser demons that had ganged up on them before the castle ahead. When they arrived in the building, however, they were met with a very violent surprise.

Youko Story

Youko Kurama is a five-tailed fox demon who was a fugitive from Makai. He was a thief back then, a good one. One day, he was being hunted and he got injured; his situation was very hostile. Fortunately, he found a way to survive. He turned into a spirit and managed to escape from the hunters. His spirit flew to Ningenkai and managed to possess the body of an unborn child in a woman's womb. When the child was born, he was given the name Shuichi Minamino and was loved and cherished by his mother, Shiori. Shiori's husband died shortly after Shuichi was born. His true purpose of staying in Ningenkai was to recover his strength for mostly 10 years. But 15 years had passed and still, he's still with Shiori. He can't bear to leave his human mother after all she had done for him. Shuichi stayed and took care of her especially in times when she needs him.

Shuichi unexpectedly turned back as a youko during the Ankoku Bujutsukai. This was the time when his youko side was introduced. This was made possible by Uraurashima's curse that should have made Shuichi a helpless child, but instead he turned into a youko: his original form. He went back to his human form after their match.

At the time when Yusuke died for the second time, Shuichi transformed into his youko form by himself as a result of his vengeful spirit.

His third and final transformation was during his match with Sigure at the Makai tournament. But Kurama decided to turn into his human form to defeat Sigure for personal reasons.

Kuronue is Youko Kurama's late comrade. He was introduced in the second movie of Yu Yu Hakusho. He was Kurama's companion every time he makes a move as a thief. Kuronue died while he tried to retrieve his necklace that was very important to him. He jumped into a deep hole underground and he was attacked by razor sharp bamboos. Kurama could not do anything but to save himself , and so he left him. Do not take it the wrong way. He also mourned for the loss of his friend.

Characteristics

Kurama is cool, calm and collected for a majority if the time he is shown in Yuyu Hakusho, and proves that he is indeed an extremely capable fighter. Hiei even states during the course of Kurama's first battle in the series against Genbu of the Four Saint Beasts that he would much rather fight with him than against him, something that alarmed Kuwabara as Hiei was a lightning quick swordsman and famous for the amount of power he could conjure up with his flame based techniques. Kurama uses plants to fight most of his enemies, and definitely doesn't fall under the generic stereotype of being all around nearly useless for fighting. Kurama has proven that he is indeed a front line fighter and, though very much reliable on tactics to win his fights, he is also just as capable a fighter as Yusuke and Kuwabara and Hiei, though his plant minions generally do the work. A majority of his fighting style as Youko Kurama relies on illusions and having his plants fight for him, often in a parasitic way. His main weapon is not those plants, however, as he actually bases his fighting style off of the Rose Whip that he has hidden in his hair. This tactic is probably to convince people that he is somewhat physically weak as a fighter by coming off with pinkish clothing and a fragile body structure, or so it would seem. He has shown that in the end, despite his human qualities and caring, he can still most definitely be as ruthless as a demon, showing that when push came to shove he was willing to kill anyone, even a small child as shown in the Black Chapter saga. However, he is also a serious avenger, as in the very next chapter he killed the opponent he had to face that put him into a position that he would have to kill the child. This was one of the few instances where he was actually shown to have any emotion other than kindness, going into a brutal rage, but then, the mind reading opponent he faced was confused as his thoughts went silent, showing that he is able to avoid telepathy.

Powers and Abilities

Kurama when introduced his significantly depowered due to the Spirit Defense Force nearly killing him, but he has retained his abiltiy to manipulate plants, especially his trademarl rose whip. His abilites continue to grow and start to reach their former glory once he takes the form of Yoko Kurama due to the effects of the Idon Box. By the end of the series Kurama in his full demon form is an Upper S-Class appartion and one of the strongest demons in demon world.

Techniques

Astral Projection - In the manga Kurama is able to separate his astral form from his body to enter the Spirit World.

Bamboo Forest - Kurama takes a plant and changes that into a spear like bamboo shoot which he launches into the ground. Then dozens upon dozens of Bamboo spears shoot up from the ground to impale any targets around Kurama.

Binding Fist of the Demonic Vine - Similar to the Rose Whip though a Sword variant. This technique twist the vines around Kurama's arm to form a blade. Only usable as Yoko Kurama

Bloodsucking Plant - A last ditch effort attack, The blood sucking plant uses Kurama's life force to activate and attaches itself to his opponent where it then sucks out the opponents blood and blossoms over their body.

Death Tree - A rooted plant that ends in many carniverous mouths that secrete acidic saliva that can melt flesh and bone with ease. This planet was used to interrogate Ura Urashima. Only usable as Yoko Kurama

Floating Leaf - Kurama summons the leaf of a plant on his back to act as a glider. The wings were mistaken by Kuwabara as butterfly wings.

Lamp Weed - A marker plant that Kurama uses to keep track of where he has gone.

Leaf Blade - As word blade formed from a leaf, Kurama used this before he was strong enough to create his Rose Whip.

Parrot Grass - A talking grass used to confuse a group of religous zealots in Spirit World.

Petals and Thorns - Kurama uses rose petals to form a barrier around himself. When an enemy gets to close the petals act as razor blades and rip apart anyone. This move is used to take out weaker demons or to keep higher ones at bay.

Pseudo-Creature - A plant that combines with a host on a cellular level. This plant instinctively heals all damage to the host as long as the brain is still intact. This was given to Hiei so he could present Mukuro with the gift of her former tormentor.

Ojigi Plant - A plant indigenous to South America. When grown with demon energy, it mutates into a creature that responds to movements or heat by closing its leaves around its prey and crushing it to death. This plant was used in the Dark Tournament to battle Karasu. Only usable as Yoko Kurama

Rose Whip - Formed from a seed that Kurama keeps in his hair, this is his most used and trademarked weapon. The whip is sharp enough to slice through stone and Kurama is very skilled in its use.

Seed of the Death Plant - Kurama will sow this seed into his opponents body and after it gestates for some time it will erupt from thier body immobilizing them and killing them instantly. Kurama once placed the plant into his own body to serve as an impromptu blade during his fight with Toya and successfully used this plant top kill Roto.

Sinning Tree - A plant that grasps it user in tendrils and then feeds their mind illusions based on their fears, showing them wicked and disturbing images. The tree will not stop until the host is dead. This was used to ensnare Elder Toguro who, since he is immortal, is now trapped for all eternity.

Smokescreen - Kurama is able to emit a smokescreen from his sleeves in order to blind his opponents and cover his own movements.

Thorn Wheel - Kurama spins the rose whip around his waist and emits a deadly energy attack all around him. This attack is perfect for taking out groups of weaker demons.